goodbyes are always bittersweet
by owluvr
Summary: "...remember that this is not the end. This is only the beginning."


goodbyes are always bittersweet

"Hello, my name is Molly Weasley, and I was Head Girl this year."

_A scared little girl, holding her mother's hand, looks at the wall._

"_Mummy, I don't wanna run through the wall!" she cries, burying her face into her mother's shirt._

"_You have to Molly," she says, "If you want to see what's on the other side."_

"_Mummy!" she protests._

"_Go," her mother says, letting go of her hand, "I can't hold your hand forever."_

"Today we are graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"_Molly Weasley!" the Sorting Hat shouts, and Molly goes up to the hat. It's placed gently on her head._

"_Another Weasley, eh?" the old hat says, a note of annoyance in his voice, "How many of them are there, anyway?"_

"_Loads," Molly whispered._

"_Well, let's see. You're smart, no doubt about, but I see something in there, a small little flicker of bravery, that I think would be best in…GRYFFINDOR!" he shouts the whole name to the Great Hall, and it erupts into cheers and screams. Molly smiles and makes her way to her various cousins that are all sitting there, ready to congratulate her._

"Throughout our seven years at Hogwarts, we have experienced so many different things, and met so many different new people."

"_Hi," a girl says from next to her, "I'm Andrea King."_

"_No talking!" the teacher yelled from the front of the room._

"_Molly Weasley," she says quietly._

"_Wow, you're a Weasley, huh? Personally, I've only been in the magical world a day, and all I keep hearing about are Weasleys. You must be pretty special, huh?" Andrea asks, and for the first time, Molly wonders if she is special._

"_Quiet!" the teacher snaps again, "And don't make me tell you a third time!"_

"_God, is she always this strict?" Andrea whispers._

"I'm sure that as we go forward, we will remember these years as some of the best of our lives."

"_Molly! I did it! We did it!" Dom yelled, when she received a glare from Andrea._

"_Did what?" Molly asked._

"_We made the Quidditch Team! You're currently looking at the two newest chasers!"_

"_That's great, Dom! I'm so happy for you guys!"_

"_Let's go celebrate!" Andrea said, dragging Molly and Dom off._

"After all, what can compare with Hogwarts? I dare you to find me one other school with as many secrets as this one."

"_Run, run, run!" Andrea yelled._

"_I knew you were a bad influence on me," Molly muttered under her breath._

"_No need to be a smart arse right now, we have to find a place to hide!" Andrea whispers. They run past a tapestry._

"_Wow, that's beautiful," Molly says, stopping to look at it._

"_Molly, not NOW!" Dom protests, while Andrea runs around._

"_We need a place to hide, we need a place to hide, we need a place to hide!" and just like magic, the tapestry opens and there's a room. They look at each other._

"_Get it!" Andrea pushes and they all stumble in._

"I also dare you to find a school with as many wonderful people as this one."

_It was before their seventh year._

"_We have OWLs coming up this year," Andrea groaned._

"_Ugh," Dom said, "You know, Molly's probably already prepared." Just then, Molly came into the compartment of their train._

"_Can you believe it's our seventh year already?" she asked._

"_Nope," they both said._

"_I hate change," Molly said grumpily. And she did._

_She hated when winter melted into spring, when spring, sang into summer, when summer withered into fall, and when fall freezed into winter._

_She hated it when she blew out another candle on her cake, hated it when the years added another new number to the end. But mostly, she hated it when people had to put on their caps and gowns and act like they were happy._

_How could people be happy leaving Hogwarts? Hadn't they always said Hogwarts was their home? Didn't they know they were never coming here again? Didn't they remember that their parents always talked about how it was the best years of their lives?_

_And they just wanted to give that all up? For what?_

_For endless watches ticking you're late, you're late, for endless meetings where you don't care about a thing that was said, for meeting people you hate, and meeting people that brake you? For being all on your own without a bigger bed to climb into? For believing in nothing and knowing nothing?_

_For that? And people were happy about it?_

_No more late night chats with the other girls in the girl's dormitory. No more late night trips to the kitchens for coca. No more pranks pulled over her by her stupid never know when to quit cousins. _

"_Get over it Molly," she said, "Change happens. It's a fact of life. Now you won't have to deal with it. Besides, won't you be happy with no more teenage angst?"_

"_No," Molly said quietly. Dom laughed._

"_That's because you hate change," she said, "But I want you to remember this: goodbyes are always bittersweet, but if you focus on the good times, instead of focusing on the bad, you can make them happier."_

"_That sounds like something Victoire would say," Molly had grumbled._

"_Well yeah," Dom said, "Where do you think I got it from?" _

"And so, as we move on from this school, I want you to remember that the memories you made here and the friends you made here, will last a lifetime."

"_C'mon," Andrea said. It was over the summer before their fifth, at the Burrow._

"_Where are we going?" Dom asked._

"_Over here," Andrea said. They walked over to a hill. On top of the hill was the sunset, floating down._

"_Isn't it gorgeous?" she asked. Molly smiled. There was nowhere else she would rather be._

"As we say our final goodbyes, and maybe our first real hellos, I want us all to remember our eleven year old selves on the train. And remember that this is not the end. This is only the beginning."

"_Mummy, I don't wanna run through the wall!"_

"_You have to. If you want to see what's on the other side."_

"_Mummy!"_

"_I can't hold your hand forever."_

"And we must always remember that Hogwarts will always be there to welcome us home."

Molly stepped off of the platform and looked at the castle looming in the distance.

"Goodbye," she whispered.


End file.
